[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 22, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7026-S7027]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                IDAHOANS SPEAK OUT ON HIGH ENERGY PRICES

  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, in mid-June, I asked Idahoans to share with 
me how high energy prices are affecting their lives, and they responded 
by the hundreds. The stories, numbering over 1,000, are heartbreaking 
and touching. To respect their efforts, I am submitting every e-mail 
sent to me through [email protected] .gov to the Congressional 
Record. This is not an issue that will be easily resolved, but it is 
one that deserves immediate and serious attention, and Idahoans deserve 
to be heard. Their stories not only detail their struggles to meet 
everyday expenses, but also have suggestions and recommendations as to 
what Congress can do now to tackle this problem and find solutions that 
last beyond today. I ask unanimous consent to have today's letters 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       Thanks for the info. And thanks for asking for input. My 
     family is seeing the pinch somewhat. We live 20 miles from 
     Boise, and since work and shopping are in Boise, that puts us 
     on the road a lot during the week. We have been forced to 
     consolidate trips, which is not that bad an idea. We also 
     drive our little car (Honda Civic) more, which, for a family 
     of large people such as ours, is not a small problem. We do 
     not drive my pick-up as much as we have in the past, either.
       I think that it is about time we developed our own 
     resources regardless of the impact of individual families. It 
     is a strategic decision since the world's oil reserves are 
     being used at an ever-increasing rate because of the growth 
     of the economies of different countries around the world. The 
     U.S. is not the only consumer any more, and we have to live 
     with that. So, drilling in ANWR, off the coast and developing 
     oil shale is a good thing, especially since we have proven 
     that we can do it with very little impact on the environment 
     (as is the case of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline). Of course, we 
     can expect accidents, but we have to deal with that if it 
     happens and engineer a plan for that contingency to prevent 
     it from happening.
       I think solar power is something we really have to look at. 
     Why not require that every new house built have solar 
     collectors on the roof. This will do a number of things:
       It will create a new industry which will create a fertile 
     environment for R&D, which will, in turn, improve the 
     efficiency and branch into new areas where solar power can be 
     used that have not been considered yet.
       It will use a resource that is not being utilized because 
     of inefficiency. But, regardless of how inefficient our use 
     is, if we do not use it, it is going to waste, anyway.
       It will open a new realm of thought where American 
     ingenuity can take over branching into other areas.
       If we could offer tax or other types of incentives to home 
     owners who choose to retrofit their existing houses to solar 
     power, we could further increase the possibility of 
     development of the use of the resource.
       I think nuclear energy has proven itself to be a great 
     source of power. Its increased use would foster research into 
     uses of the spent fuel, which seems to me to be the most 
     controversial area. Again, I am sure that with the increased 
     use of nuclear power comes the increased possibility of 
     accidents, but also comes the increased knowledge base from 
     which to work, keeping the possibilities of accidents to a 
     minimum.
       One of the important questions I would like to raise is the 
     viability of ethanol. I think it is going to do too much 
     damage (we are seeing it already) to our food-producing 
     industry. It is already causing an increase in food costs in 
     the grocery store, and further development will cause, I am 
     afraid, an even larger cost increase. We are already 
     importing foodstuffs from other countries, something we have 
     not had to do before.
     Unsigned.
                                  ____

       You write that my country is too dependent on foreign oil 
     and we must develop alternate energy sources. You, your 
     party, and many of the Democrats have voted consistently 
     against all such alternatives for one reason or another. [I 
     disagree with your assessment of the problem.] It is of no 
     use to write about my experience with the rise in gas prices. 
     If Congress and this Administration need stories, then it 
     further proves that our elected government [is not responsive 
     to its citizens][Congress has] held hearings with the oil 
     representatives, which [has not resulted in anything.] Thank 
     you for your inattention to this response.
     Harry.
                                  ____

       I am a small business owner in Meridian. I will put this 
     succinctly: My government is allowing OPEC to put me and 
     other businesses out of business! If I understand this 
     correctly, we import most of our oil from Canada and Mexico. 
     If I also understand this correctly, they import a lot of 
     food and technology from us. Therefore, if we get little to 
     no oil, then understandably, they should get no food or 
     technology and keep [their own] citizens in [their] country. 
     I cannot afford to pay higher taxes for these illegal people. 
     No oil = no food. I can live longer without their oil than 
     they can without our food. Stop all Alaskan pipeline oil to 
     Japan; why should we be in critical shortage and continue to 
     supply them?
       We can build refineries, too. Obviously the OPEC cartel 
     does not want to since they are raping our bank accounts with 
     the few that are working. Drill off-shore; China is [doing 
     so] in our own gulf, and drill in the Arctic National 
     Wildlife Refuge.
       [I am tired of all the talk without any action. Congress 
     must get this country moving in a positive direction.]
       Support the troops.
       Secure the border.
       Drill and process our own oil, build refineries.
       Secure English as our language.
       No foreign aid to countries hostile to the U.S.
       Practice some ethics in government service.
       [I am very unhappy with the inaction of Congress on this 
     matter.]
           Sincerely,
     David, Meridian.
                                  ____

       Dear Senator Crapo: I received your e-mail and just wanted 
     to respond in kind to it.
       I also heard President Bush's speech this morning that he 
     would like to lift the ban on offshore drilling, begin shale 
     drilling in Wyoming, Colorado and Utah, and also begin 
     drilling in ANWR. My husband and I are 100 percent in favor 
     of this happening, and hope that your vote will likewise be 
     the same in the Senate. What a shame that this country has 
     not built a new refinery in thirty years. It is hard to 
     believe that we have let ourselves become so dependent on 
     foreign oil, and it is a disgrace to this country. We would 
     also be in favor of nuclear energy, and affordable hybrid 
     cars (electric and gas) to lessen the dependency on oil.
       My husband and I are both retired and on fixed incomes so 
     the sky rocketing fuel prices affecting the cost of food, and 
     anything else shipped by truck, has not only cut into our 
     income, but also into our savings.
       We thank you for all the good work you are doing on our 
     behalf as Senator of Idaho. Please keep up the fight so that 
     our voices can be heard.
           Sincerely,
     Sheila.
                                  ____

       It is time that we must remind Republicans that if we do 
     not drill, we will no longer be the strongest nation in the 
     world. I am sure that the Liberals and Environmentalists want 
     us to suffer. We are a ``can do'' nation and we can start 
     drilling off the coasts and in ANWR. We need to show, the 
     Americans, that we are still a ``can do'' nation. Maybe we 
     should tell all those who do not support drilling that we 
     should not support them in Congress. We are a nation that has 
     always had a ``can do'' attitude. We do not [want people in 
     Congress who do not support drilling and new jobs; we need 
     people who will allow us to develop our own resources without 
     reliance on foreign countries.] We have plenty of oil and oil 
     shale in our country to start drilling now.
     Mary.
                                  ____

       Good for you, Senator Crapo!! Thank you for not falling for 
     the illogical environmental hysteria that is taking over the 
     political landscape right now. We need long-term planning, 
     not short-term panic.
     Marv.
                                  ____

       I have presently read a report written by a retired 
     engineer from Exxon. This engineer has proposed a change from 
     oil to coal-oil. That can be produced at $40 a barrel and 
     within EPA standards. To me, this is a no-brainer for the 
     interim until a permanent solution is available.
     Herbert.
                                  ____

       My wife and I live in Hailey and are octogenarians, so the 
     impact of high energy costs is felt through home heating and 
     cooking and limitation on driving. Perhaps the greatest 
     impact is the rising cost of food and services relating to 
     costs of energy. We have canceled out two vacations this 
     summer and fall, and go into town to shop and pick up mail 
     just 2 or 3 days a week.
       If Congress actually gets serious, I feel we would be well 
     served by 1) offshore drilling and new refining and 2) a 
     serious long-term effort to diversify into nuclear power, and 
     other economically correct alternatives, including coal and 
     shale oil.
       Keep your eye on the ball.
     Jim and Marty.
                                  ____

       ``This year alone, the average American family will spend 
     more than $200 a month on gasoline.''
       YOU are now paying about half what Europeans pay for gas--
     so this is what you chose to call a ``crisis.'' But then of 
     course you do not walk in my shoes. The Europeans apparently 
     have learned to live with outrageous

[[Page S7027]]

     gas prices, but then their governments do not provide tax 
     incentives for people to buy SUVs and 1-ton trucks to go 
     shopping in. Maybe there is no SUV or 1-ton truck lobby over 
     there.
       Here is MY crisis--if you are interested: I am paying 
     $1,293 per month for medical insurance for my wife and 
     myself. That is a heck of a lot more than your $200 
     ``crisis.'' That takes care of about all of my company 
     pension (after 30 years of employment).
       For that $200 in gas I can escape to McCall or Stanley for 
     a weekend. That $1,293 medical insurance does not even offer 
     me peace of mind, as I struggle each month to justify the 
     payment.
       Obviously--your crisis is not my crisis--and vice versa.
     Ole, Boise.
                                  ____

       This fuel problem is, of course, hard on us all. But the 
     young families trying to make ends meet by working two jobs 
     and still cannot meet the student's needs, and cannot get any 
     to help because they do not fall into the right bracket to 
     receive stamps or whatever, free children's lunches, even. 
     The real people are the ones who are hurting. Yes, something 
     has got to give. Bless you for caring.
     Mary.
                                  ____

       The bottom line solution to our energy crisis is to 
     dramatically reduce our dependence on fossil fuel as quickly 
     as possible, especially foreign oil. Sooner or later that 
     supply is going to be history.
       The big question is what can we do now? I can think of 
     several ideas: (1) Allow oil drilling in the U.S. in those 
     areas currently restricted by environmental law. (2) Create 
     monetary incentives for auto manufacturers who offer non-
     fossil fuel vehicles for sale and also incentives for those 
     who buy them. (3) Encourage the use of nuclear energy to 
     generate electrical energy, both for home and domestic use. 
     (4) To help pay for some of this, apply a healthy surcharge 
     on every gallon of foreign oil that comes into the U.S. And 
     finally (5) continue to help educate our U.S. public in new 
     and better ways to cope with high energy costs.
       None of this will come quick or easy, but something has to 
     be done now to keep from destroying our U.S. economy and 
     existence.
       Thank you.
     Dave and Helen, Meridian.
                                  ____

       I totally disagree with your statement in the first 
     paragraph that reads:
       ``The driving distances between places in our state as well 
     as limited public transportation options mean that many of us 
     do not have any choice but to keep driving and paying those 
     ever-increasing prices for fuel. The United States is too 
     dependent on petroleum for our energy. And we are far too 
     dependent on foreign sources of that petroleum. We urgently 
     need to expand our own domestic production of petroleum and 
     need to significantly diversify our energy sources.''
       More emphasis should be placed by Congress (including you) 
     on forcing the three domestic automobile manufacturers to 
     increase the mileage cars and trucks get and phase out 
     production of gas-guzzling SUVs, while increasing the 
     production levels of hybrid cars similar to the ones Toyota 
     and Honda make. Instead of coming up with new ideas you 
     advocate continuing the status quo, which is to allow auto 
     manufacturers to save money on the research necessary to come 
     up with cars that have leading-edge technology, like the 
     Toyota Prius. No wonder American car makers are losing 
     billions of dollars and are now behind Toyota in cars sold. 
     Next thing we taxpayers will probably have to do is to bail 
     these companies out, just as we did with Chrysler in the 
     early 1980s.
     Robert, Boise.
                                  ____

       Dear Senator Crapo, While there is no short term fix for 
     escalating energy prices, I believe there are a few things 
     that we can do to ensure the United States of America will 
     have viable energy for the future.
       (1) Speculative Impact on Oil--Taxing the oil companies 
     into oblivion is not the answer, but the methods that are 
     used to trade oil contracts can be changed. Since oil 
     speculators only need to put 4 percent--7 percent down on an 
     oil contract, there are too many speculators in the market 
     that have no intention of ever taking delivery of a drop of 
     oil. Raising the down payment to be comparable to the stock 
     market (50 percent down payment) will take out the investors 
     ``dabbling'' in oil. Let us do the math on this: If I took 
     $40,000 of my own money, I could buy one million dollars 
     worth of oil contracts that I would have no intention of ever 
     taking delivery of. Removing oil contracts such as these from 
     the market would give us a better idea of true supply/demand 
     ratio really is.
       (1a) The Fed needs to do what is necessary to increase the 
     value of the dollar. A stronger dollar slows down speculative 
     buying of oil, causing the price to drop.
       (2) Import tariff on ethanol. While we do not want to be 
     dependent on yet another imported fuel, this would remove 
     some of the pressure on food prices due to demand for corn. 
     Corn is so important to our society that most people do not 
     grasp the impact it has on many areas of the economy. 
     Everything from carbonated drinks, dog food, meat, etc. 
     depend on corn in one way or another and also raises the 
     prices for other crops because less of these other crops are 
     being planted in favor of corn. Now take that price increase, 
     and add the effect of the flooding this year and we are 
     looking at a recipe for rampant inflation. Since Idaho 
     farmers produce a large amount of sugar from sugar beets, 
     maybe helping them build some plants to turn that sugar into 
     ethanol is a viable option.
       (3) Other energy sources. We cannot continue to count on 
     oil as our primary source for energy. The Federal Government 
     has known for years that we can get biodiesel from ALGAE! 
     (http://www.unh.edu/p2/biodiesel/article_alge.html cites many 
     government sources) We cannot afford to not provide funds for 
     more research and development in this field. Clean nuclear 
     energy--we need to do whatever we can to be able to take 
     spent nuclear fuel and regenerate it, thus having less 
     nuclear waste going into the ground. If the French can do 
     this, there should be nothing in our way to prevent us for 
     doing it--even if it means renegotiating nuclear 
     proliferation treaties. We also need to invest more into 
     research and development of solar and wind power. We also 
     need to overturn drilling bans that are in place in places 
     such as the coasts of California and Florida. We also cannot 
     deny that this country needs more refining capacity, and we 
     need to come up with a way to help companies cut the red tape 
     and build more refinery capacity.
       (4) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REGULATION--The rules imposed by the 
     EPA have impacted our ability to have higher mile per gallon 
     vehicles. Tighter emission laws always results in a decrease 
     in fuel economy. If engines put out less emissions in 
     emissions tests, is that negated by them consuming more fuel 
     over several years? For example, the change from low sulfur 
     diesel (500 ppm sulfur) to Ultra low sulfur diesel (50 ppm) 
     caused diesels to lose about 2 percent economy and some of 
     the older engines have problems with the new diesel eating 
     through seals. Having regulations more like Europe (separate 
     policies for gasoline engines vs. diesel engines) would also 
     help. Due to the current EPA regulation, nobody can import 
     the clean diesels from Europe such as the Volkswagen Polo--
     which with the diesel engine gets 72 mpg. Hybrid vehicles 
     cannot touch this kind of fuel economy. Just think how many 
     gallons of fuel would be saved by cars like this, then think 
     about how many more gallons of fuel would be saved if this 
     vehicle used biodiesel!
       As for how it affects my life: I had already reduced my 
     driving after diesel hit $3/gallon, and now I have reduced it 
     even more. I canceled plans to visit family in North Idaho 
     for the Memorial Day Weekend (I live in Boise), and about the 
     only driving I do is to/from work (5 miles each way), and 
     necessary errands such as the grocery store. I also end up 
     hunting much less than I would like, and if the price 
     continues to climb, I may not hunt at all. If more people 
     like me do not hunt, then the Idaho Fish and Game department 
     will have huge funding shortfalls which, in my opinion, 
     jeopardizes the future of wildlife conservation in our state. 
     I also have cut down on spending of all other types, whether 
     it is eating out or not buying consumer goods.
       There is not an instant solution to the energy crisis, but 
     some of the things above will help in the short term. We need 
     to focus on the long term energy policy not only to cause 
     prices to normalize, but to prevent economy-killing price 
     hikes like we are seeing now.
     Alan, Boise.
                                  ____

       We are 70 years old and active seniors on a fixed income. 
     Energy costs are becoming a burden for us and will begin to 
     go into our reserves for future years. Gas prices are 
     obviously a problem but the cost of groceries is also a big 
     item. We have one car and my husband rides a bicycle as much 
     as possible. I walk to places when destinations are close 
     enough. We are concerned about being good stewards of our 
     environment and do what we can, e.g., recycling, using less 
     gas, using fans instead of an air conditioner when practical, 
     raising some of our own food, planting trees on our property, 
     and conserving water.
       We are disgusted that we are the victims of bogus global 
     warming fanatics, environmentalists, and opportunists. 
     Ethanol, which has not been proven to be efficient or good 
     for engines, is using up corn that was used for food and 
     livestock feed thus raising food costs. We have oil reserves 
     in our own soil that could be used. There are other countries 
     drilling off our shores so why cannot we since this would not 
     create any more risk than is already present?
     Allen and Jane, Nampa.

                          ____________________